Its probably about time I actually catch up on this blog thing. I believe my pictures are also a bit behind, so after they finish backing up, I'll add them for your viewing pleasure! Now to what my Australian life has included, I think pre-safari, will do best for this post.
Back at the beginning of March, the second of the month actually, I had a totally unplanned but fantastic day! Since I didn't have any plans, I decided I might as well go to church, which was nice, being the second time I've gone while in Australia. Yet, afterward, when I was meeting my host parents to bring me home, I ran into a rotarian who offered to take me along with him for the day, which turned out to be awesome! I helped him move a trailer before we went out for lunch with his family, a very pleasant experience. To take me home, he then offered me a ride on his motorbike! However, as we rode pass the airport, without telling me what he was doing, he just pulled in and brought me inside to his plane. This was followed by a great half hour or so plane ride around the area, where I got to fly (with the exception of takeoff and landing)! It was great to see my home (away from home) from the air and to pilot the plane. I've always wanted to fly, to this was amazing! :D
With the Australian Army Cadets during this time, we had the normal drill nights, but then some extra things. One of the nights was a swim test, so we all met at the town pool. The test consisted of a 50m swim followed by a 2min wade, which was easily done. THe rest of the night was great fun, just hanging out, playing soccer and footy. The following Saturday, we had a one day biv (bivouac), which consisted of some games, and practicing the flags for Anzac Day. THe following week, while continuing practice, we came up with a new drill movement, which we like to call the morf!
The month came to end with Safari, yet the weekend before, I had to get in a couple more great things! My host brother let me know about a UN Youth Conference up in Canberra, where I decided to join him. We left school early to go up to Canberra for the event which started that afternoon. Friday night consisted mainly of ice breakers and fun games. Saturday was an early start to the day before several workshops with discussions on things such as world order, and what that means. We also had a game called Interactive Problem Solving (IPS) based on current affairs and issues throughout the world. For this one, we were divided into several groups, each playing a different party in the affair. My group was the Secular Opposition while the issue was the ousting of the Egyptian dictator. We had to act is if we were this group, trying to represent their opinions based on the information we were given, while trying to forget everything we knew about the event from the news. The day also consisted of a guest speaker from CARE Australia, who spoke to us on what the organisation did and how they accomplished it. The Sunday consisted of another IPS, this time on something even more current. My group was representing the European Union, while the other groups represented the USA, Russia, and Ukraine. In this, as you may have guessed, we were trying to solve the Crimean Crisis. I have to say that for my group, this seemed to go really well and we were great politicians! haha We managed to avoid any major disasters and were beginning to take control of all parties though different negotiations. We had Russia and almost the US under our grasp while at the end we convinced Ukraine to join the EU! However this is how it ended since we only had an hour and a half to complete the activity, which definitely isn't enough time to solve all of Ukraine's problems! ;) Afterward, we also had a MUN, or Model United Nations, in which everyone represented a country; I was assigned to Senegal. This was followed by two resolutions being proposed and debated as these nations. Sadly though, with about 100 different people and countries, it was hard to get a position to speak within the time constraints of an hour per resolution, especially when my country didn't have strong positions on either resolution. But it was still fun!
That Saturday night, I left the conference while a Rotarian picked me up and then he dropped me back the next morning. This was so that I could go to a Brumbies game! The Brumbies are a team in Canberra who compete in Rugby Union, for those who don't know. It was a great game, and by the end of it, I got into the game almost as much as I would had it been a baseball game! THe Brumbies even won! It was great fun and I had a fantastic time. :)
THe rest of the month of March consisted of several parties, some small, some not, all of them fun. :) And of course, SURFING! Whenever I could I would be out on my board getting better and doing my best! Sometime during the beginning of the month, I even managed to stand up while at the top of the wave, as opposed to waiting til I slide to the bottom before standing up! I love surfing! :) Then came Safari, which I will talk about in the next post!
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